That's pinteresting!

Ever since we got our front door I have been a little scared that I would look out there at night and see someone looking in at me.  Not to mention, when people come over this is what they can see

When I see that, I want to turn and run so who knows what strangers think. LOL!

Well I found an idea on Pinterest and I got to work.  All it took was some $6 contact paper.  I actually spent more time in Wal-Mart looking for the contact paper than it took me to put it up.  All I had to do was trace the stencil on the contact paper, cut them all out, and stick them up.  I also decided to do the kitchen window because it had this sticky stuff on it from the previous owner. I think they had a stained glass sticker on there or something.  So here's the pictures, they pretty much speak for themselves.

Front door looking out before. 

During

After!

Kitchen window looking out. Before. 

Kitchen window after. Still ugly-ish, but hopefully better. 

3 weeks old

Getting upset.

Two weeks old

Mason is two weeks old today.  He's still doing good and is a great little sleeper. Marley is being a good helper and usually asks to help feed him and hold him.  She doesn't like it when he cries though.

Cheese! 

Marley is 4 years and one month old. Mason is two weeks old. 

One week old

Mason was finally released from the NICU on April 12th.  Since he's been home things have been going good. He sleeps about 4-5 hours at a time at night, and naps throughout the day. Here's his one week pictures.

It's not the best picture because I don't have batteries for my camera =(

Mason's birth story

We arrived at the hospital at 7am. The plan was to start me on a low dose of pitocin and up it every hour.  Not long after they started I was having contractions. Nothing painful or regular though. They continued to up my dosage every hour.  Around 1pm my doctor showed up.  She walked in and said I looked too comfortable to be in labor and decided to break my water. At this point I was dilated 4cm. I called my mom and told her not to rush up there since with Marley it was hours before anything happened. Around 4 pm I was dilated to 7cm and I decided to get an epidural. My thought was why should I be in pain when I really don't need to be.  My contractions weren't awful like they were with Marley, but I didn't want to be in more pain and I didn't want to wait too long and not have any pain meds.  Once the epidural was in, I was in heaven and apparently I was pretty funny! The epidural was really good, and I couldn't feel anything below my waist. I remember telling Mike and my mom that my butt felt really big like the hippo on the movie Madagascar, and then I continued to sing a song about it.  It definitely was completely different than Marley's birth was.  I took a nap sometime after 5pm.  Around 6:30 or 7ish I woke up and was ready to try pushing him out finally.  Of course, my mom had just left to go to the cafeteria...(she came back to quite the view) Since I was a little loopy I practically yelled "HI MOM" haha! I pushed until around 7:30ish. With each contraction his heart rate was dropping and staying low. The doctor finally said that it was staying low longer and longer each time and that I would have to have a c-section... Around 7:45ish they wheeled me back and Mike got ready too.  I was all prepped and Mike finally came in.  I felt lots of weird feelings- pushing, pulling, pressure, just weirdness. I asked Mike if they cut me open yet, and he replied "Uhh I don't wanna look" One of the nurses moved way up near my armpit and started pushing on my stomach and I knew it was time. They pulled him out and I think everyone in that room said "oh my gosh" Well I couldn't see anything so I didn't know what was wrong. Then they said "He's huge!" Mason Raymond was born at 8:14pm.  He let out some tiny little cries and they brought him over to clean him up.  All I could see was the top of his head. He had red hair! I just kept saying "is his hair red, does he have red hair" I totally didn't see that coming, I figured he would have black hair.  They cleaned him all up and him and Mike went to the nursery while I was stitched back up.  I was finally wheeled to the recovery room where I slept for the next hour or so.  When I woke up Mike was there and a nurse came in and said that Mason needed to go to the NICU because his blood sugar was too low. Normal is above 60 and his was in the 30's.  They brought him in so we could hold him first though. Mike, Marley, my mom, my dad and my grandma were all there at that point so we all held him and took some pictures.  At this point it's around 11pm. My parents and grandma headed home and I was wheeled to my room with Mike and Marley.  Around midnight they headed home too and I crashed out.
Mason weighed 10 lbs. 5 oz. and is 22 inches!! He is a big boy!

In the NICU, Mason is hooked up to an iv to give him the glucose he needs to get his blood sugar levels up to normal.  Over the next couple days his numbers continue to improve and we're told he'll be in there for 3-5 days. I was discharged from the hospital on the afternoon of the 8th (Easter)  without Mason...

Today is the 9th and Mason is still in the NICU.  We went up to see him around 4pm and his IV drip was down to 2ml/hr (he started out at 16ml/hr). The nurse was starting to check his blood sugar when we got there. She said if it is above 60 his iv will get shut off then they'll observe him for 24 hours to make sure he stays in the normal range.  It was 47 =( His iv had to stay on.  We stayed for a few hours just loving on him while he slept.  He was to eat again at 8pm so they would check it then.  Around 9pm I called up there and his level was 57 but they turned his iv off anyways since it was so close!!!! That means as long as he stays in range we should have him home with us in the next 36 hours!! (His weight is down to 9lbs. 9 oz)

It's baby day!!

41 weeks 3 days pregnant. 

Above is me at 6am on Thursday April 5th. My last belly picture before heading off to the hospital to be induced!

Overdue...

On the 27th I had my 40 weeks appt. Since I was now at this point overdue they scheduled me for a nonstress test at the hospital. Basically this test is to see if his heart rate rises or falls when he moves to see if his stressed. All I had to do was lay there and push a button when he moved.  We were supposed to go on Monday the 2nd at 2pm. They couldn't fit me in so I ended up going on the morning of the 3rd.  Everything looked good. His heart rate was good when he was moving around and nothing came up abnormal.  Once we left there I had my doctors appointment.  Since I was at this point 7 days late and he showed no sign of coming on his own we set up a time for me to be induced. We were to be at the hospital at 7am on Thursday the 5th... (this is the last time I was weighed, and all together I gained 40lbs)

41 weeks

40 weeks! - Again?!

The 26th is what I'll call my doctor office due date.  At my appoint that week the doctor asked how long I wanted to keep him in.  Since I was induced with Marley I really didn't want to be induced again. I said I would like to wait one more week and see what happens.  My dr. said they usually only let you go 10 days over and then they will induce. I was fine with that, because much more than that and I would be HUGE!

40 weeks!

March 21st was my original due date. After the first ultrasound they changed it to the 26th. I, however, kept using the 21st as my "due date"

Marley is FOUR!!

Today was Marley's 4th birthday! We had her birthday party a few weeks ago just in case.  She chose an outer space theme for her party. How weird is that for a four year old?  She had a great time playing with her cousins and getting new toys.  Today, however was more low key. We basically let her choose what we did all day.  We started out with lunch at Cici's with Grandma. Then we went to the beach! It was 85 degrees. The day Marley was born it was snowing so this weather is definitely different.  After the beach we came home and played outside, she rode her power wheel, and caught worms.  After dinner we watched a movie and she crashed out.  For some reason, she still thinks she's 3. She said she's not four until we go to grandma's house.  I think she wants another party?!

Here are some pictures from her party.

I also wanted to quickly tell the story of the day Marley was born. I know it's four years later, but I don't remember all the details so I wanted to document what I remember so 20 years from now I'll still be able to read it.

Marley's due date was March 12th, 2008.  At my dr. appt that day they set up an appointment for the following week. I went back on the 18th and she still wasn't showing any signs of wanting to come out.  They set up my induction for the next day!! We were to be at St.Mary's Hospital in Hobart at 8am on the 19th.  Well of course we were late getting there, but we were there and all checked in by 10am-ish.  They started my first dose of cervadil somewhere between 10 and 11am.  I had to stay in bed for 2 hours after that, and the next dose would be given 12 hours later. Well, Mike and I had no idea what the whole induction process included, so we didn't bring anything to do. No laptop, no books, no video games, nothing! Throughout the day a few people stopped by to check on me, but needless to say it was a boring day.  My mom showed up around 8pm ish while on her way to work. Since I assumed nothing was going to happen I told her she could go to work and we would call if anything happened.  So somewhere between 10 and 11pm then came in to give me my second dose.  Right before the nurse went to give it to me my water broke! It was the weirdest feeling ever.  We called my mom who was still at work and told her my water just broke and she needed to come back as soon as she could.  Well, she really didn't need to rush but again, Mike and I had no idea what would happen.  After my water broke, I lost all track of time.  My goal was to go as long as I could without any pain meds. I'm sure Mike appreciated that as I was squeezing his hand against the bed railing with each contraction.  I toughed it out as long as I could until the nurses finally said that they thought an epidural would help me relax and be able to progress further along.  I agreed and once I received the epidural I fell asleep for a few hours (awesome!)  Again, I have no recollection of the time, but once I woke up I felt immense pressure and come to find out it was almost time to push! With each contraction Marley's heartbeat would get low.  I had to roll on my left side and wear the oxygen mask. They also had to do the internal heart monitor on her.  Once it was time to push I gave it my all.  I guess she wasn't making her way out and they decided to use the vacuum to help her make her way out.  After pushing for a while longer, my dr. finally said if she doesn't come out on the next push we'll have to do a c-section.  Well, that immediately made me go into super pushing mode. My next contraction came, and Marley shot right out! She was born at 9:21am on March 20th, 2008.  When they placed her on me I am pretty sure I said "she's so tiny"... She was not tiny at all! I guess I was in lala land.  Marley weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz!!  They got her all cleaned up and we got to hold her for a while before they took her to the nursery to make sure she was all healthy.  We were at the hospital until the following Saturday, and then Sunday was Marley's first Easter!  All in all it was about 11 hours of bad pain, but the past four years have made it totally worth it.

And it looks like I get to go through it all again within the next two weeks!! I had my dr. appt. today and the doctor said make an appointment for next week, if he's not here yet, then we'll schedule your induction!!  I will tell his story sooner than 4 years after he's born though!

38 & 39

38 weeks

39 weeks

Fast forward

It's been over a month since I last posted anything. Oops. I guess I am too busy vacuuming and getting everything all ready. I only have THREE weeks left!  Marley's 4th birthday is coming up and I'm busy planning her party too. Not much else to share except some belly pictures!

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks (scary Zeus)

31 weeks- WHAT!?!

I seriously cannot believe I only have 9 weeks until my due date. Time has flown by. On Monday I had to go in for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. My regular appt was scheduled for today, but I figured since I was there for 3 hours I would see if I could get my appt then. They squeezed me in luckily.  Baby's heart rate is still good, as well as everything else.  I've gained 29 lbs so far... I think I'll be over the recommended 25-35 lbs.  With Marley I gained 37 total.  Here's my belly.

Yah I took this myself which is why I have no head. Oh well. I'm sure I'm not "glowing" anymore anyways. 

95% done

We are so close to being done with moving Marley upstairs, us downstairs, and creating a little office upstairs too.  Marley's room just needs trim around the bottom, door and window. Our room just needs clothes put away, and the baby stuff set up.  The office still needs all it's drywall done, flooring done, and some major organization.  So far Marley seems to really like her room. She has almost all of her toys up there (which I love!)  Her bed is a reversible loft bed. When she was downstairs she slept on the bottom. We switched up when we moved her upstairs. She freaked out at bed time as asked us to flip it back over. We did and she was fine after that.  The next day she asked us to flip it back over so she's on top again... We did, and so far so good. Here's the picture timeline of the whole progress.

Marley's old room downstairs- AAHH It's a mess! 

Bye bye pink paint...

Priming upstairs. 

New paint. Marley said she wanted blue. Mike picked this out. She said she didn't like it, it's not blue it's green were her exact words. 

CARPET! I have this weird pregnancy thing where I LOVE to vacuum. I'm not going to lie, I've vacuumed her room 4 times already...

It's done! 

Our room downstairs. 

Our headboard is about 3 inches too long for that wall so it extends into the closet. Baby Corn's crib will also be in this closet (not the one with the door haha)

So there it is. It took us about 8 days so far. Like I said all that's left is little touch up stuff.  I love not having toys in the living room and I think Marley loves having her own little space upstairs.

Movin' on up...

Remember this post here about us moving Marley's room upstairs? Well we've finally started working on that. However, things changed a little.

See in this picture the room in the top left corner? That was originally going to be the nursery. We've since decided to make that Marley's room, and have the baby downstairs with us for at least the first month or so.

Mike's been working for only about 2 days and he's made some great progress so far. All the "fun" stuff is done, and now it's time to mud and sand all the drywall. That is definitely not fun, and it's very messy.

Here's our progress so far...

This is the upstairs from the stop of the stairs looking into the room. This was taken the day we bought our house. 

Now it looks like this! The hallway on the right leads to the bathroom. The jut out on the left is the closet in the room. 

Here's the view looking back from inside her room. Closet on the right. Not sure what kind of door we're going to get on there. It's about 3 feet smaller than her room now, but for some reason it seems bigger.  

She decided she wants her room painted brown. A few days before she decided on brown she said she wanted blue, so we'll see what we finally end up with. We should have it all done in a few weeks. Just need to finish all the drywall up, paint, carpet, put up trim and then switch all her stuff up here and the rest of our stuff down stairs (most of our stuff is out of this room, either on the other side of the wall or in our dining room).  We'll also have to paint downstairs since her current room is pink and I don't think Mike likes the idea of having a pink bedroom.  We also put in a new window up here and a new fan (it's so cute) I have pictures on my other camera of it so I'll share that in the next update (which will hopefully be once we're finished!)

30 weeks

Since we started doing house work I have been slacking on the belly pictures and time has been flying by. At the most I only have 12 weeks left- that's crazy!!  I now have to go to the dr. every two weeks until the last month then it's every week. I have gained 24 lbs so far which is right on track.  Everything is still good. I have a lot of rib pain but it's just from constant kicking- little brat!